DWP Strike May Affect Water Service : Labor: Slow response to problems and a chlorine taste may result but Department of Water and Power officials say the supply is safe to drink. No end in sight for walkout.

As the four-day Department of Water and Power strike continued with no end in sight, officials warned Saturday that customers might begin to notice its effects, from slow service to tap water that smells faintly of chlorine.

At last count, 9,000 of the DWP’s 11,000 workers remained off the job despite a court order instructing them to return. With fewer workers to monitor the water supply, extra chlorine was added to guard against bacteria and viruses, officials said, warning that residents might notice “a slight chlorine taste and odor.”

“The water is safe to drink and continues to meet all health standards,” a DWP advisory said.

Skeleton crews--many of them administrators who left desk jobs to work in the field--tended to be slow in responding to calls for service and inexperienced once they got there. Officials asked customers to limit service calls to emergencies as a handful of workers struggled to keep water and power flowing to 1.3 million customers during what promised to be a long, hot holiday weekend.

Only one power outage was reported Saturday, affecting about 4,800 customers in Sun Valley for 14 minutes.

Overall, “the system is running fine,” DWP spokesman Mike Moore said. When asked if customers could expect the same level of service in the midst of a strike, Moore replied: “Absolutely not.”

“We now have people who have been locked in for 82 hours,” he said of workers who have not gone home since the strike began Wednesday, sleeping on cots and on the floor at facilities around the city and state. “They have been working damned hard.”

DWP officials continued to assert that they do not know how long power outages or water shortages can be averted.

Meanwhile, members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 18 brought their children, some in strollers, to the picket line that marched in front of the DWP’s Downtown headquarters. They carried signs in 90-degree heat, chanting “Contract Now!”

DWP officials refused to comment on the status of negotiations. But a labor spokesman said talks had resumed at 2 p.m.

“Our understanding is the City Council is on call (to approve a contract),” said Bill Lewis, business representative for Local 18.

The unions are seeking the same 3.25% annual increase granted to workers at private utilities; the city has offered 9% over four years.

Emotions were starting to run high with management reporting sporadic harassment by union members, including broken windshields, cars pelted with eggs and abusive language directed at workers who crossed picket lines.

“I’ve heard no reports of that happening,” Lewis said. “We’ve been in constant contact with the labor detail of the LAPD and I haven’t heard any reports of broken windows.”

On the contrary, he said he had heard accounts of strikers being bruised by cars driven by anti-union workers crossing picket lines.

DWP security was stepped up and Los Angeles police escorts were requested for crew members en route to job sites. The LAPD made squad cars and officers available, although it was not known how many were used.

“We want those employees coming in to work to feel safe,” Moore said. Asked if union members had made threats that would prompt the need for police protection, Moore said they had not, and that the security was precautionary. “We are concerned about being able to get the job done without being harassed.”

DWP officials planned to go back to court Tuesday to seek enforcement of a temporary restraining order issued by Superior Court Judge Robert O’Brien, who ordered an end to the strike to preserve public health and safety.